Consolidating the previous six locations that divided the departments and designing areas for students, researchers, and faculty to work together created an atmosphere of interactive education. To top it off, the building's infrastructure is a teaching tool itself, with exposed structural and sustainable elements showing students first hand how their lessons apply to the real world.

“A recent visit by Congressman David Wu let the project team, as well as researchers and students, show off the finished product. Asking a question a minute, Wu explored the school's heat transfer lab, the surface tension lab, intelligent transportation lab and hydrology lab. The building shows that Portland State is serious about education, serious about research, and serious about attracting students to the school, said Debbie Murdock, PSU assistant to the president for government relations. Wu's fascination with the space, she said, is exactly the reaction the school is aiming for.”